Monthly Archives: January 2015

I’ve been creating a number of desserts lately and decided to make one to celebrate Australia Day. I then got to thinking, “What do I love about Australia and what does Australia Day mean to me?” Hmmm

I love the red dirt and openness, the amazing display of stars, the sound of the cicadas when summer hits, the gorgeous beaches, the beauty of Sydney Harbour, the smell of the eucalypts trees, being able to walk freely, discuss issues openly with friends, the opportunities we have, being able to dream and realise those dreams, how we come together to help our mates, the diversity in food, people, culture, scenery and more. I really do feel blessed to be living in this amazing country.

Like this:

At the beginning of the year most of us make new years resolutions as we are looking forward to the coming year and what we hope to achieve but have you ever taken stock of the year that has just passed? What did you achieve? What moments gave you joy? What where you grateful for?

Last year I started a gratitude and abundance jar. At the end of each day I would write on a piece of paper something that I was grateful for and then fold it up and put it in the jar. The idea was to do this every day for the whole year. Some days it was easy to be grateful for what had occurred – the snuggle in the morning with my daughter, taking the kids out for a simple dinner but they insisted they dress up in their very good clothes or receiving an email from a client saying how positive she felt after her session. Other days however where ‘ordinary’ days and I had to really dig deep and find something that I was grateful for – brushing and patting my daughters cat or the quiet morning before everyone awoke.

On 1st Jan this year I opened the jar and tipped all the little pieces of paper out. I then spent the morning reading each one. It was wonderful remembering what had happened as so many of the things I had written down where ‘little’ things that I had forgotten about. Even though I didn’t end up writing a note for each day (I stopped in about May), there was always a smile creeping over my face as I read each note and I felt such joy at being able to remind myself of the wonderful treasures that last year bought. Having experienced this joy I plan on continuing for the whole year this time.

The jar was also an abundance jar, not only full of beautiful memories to be revisited at the beginning of the new year but also cash. Each week I would add money to the jar. The first week $1, the second week $2 the third week $3 and so on. So to start the year I had a gift from the year before of cash, cash I could spend any way I wanted to. It was such a lovely gift and I spent it on an experience with my family and created more wonderful memories.

I invite you to start your own gratitude and abundance jar this year. Not only is it a wonderful experience in the new year it creates the energy of abundance and gratitude all through the year. The jar helps to remind you to be grateful each day – noticing not only the ‘big’ things but also the ‘little’ things.